"Ahhh!!!!" A loud scream filled the Leotard manor, waking Izikel from his sleep. It was morning already.
He jumped from his bed and rushed in the direction of the scream.
As he got to his father's office he pushed past the small crowd of maids and guards that had gathered, reaching the front where Dremlin and Sophia stood staring at the body hanging from the ceiling.
The image of a man hanging by his neck came into view, leaving Izikel distraught, Isiel had taken his own life.
He stared at the body as a mix of emotions flooded his senses. It was his first time seeing something like this. Even if he had no emotional connection to the man, it was still a depressing sight.
He could hear the maids mumur behind him.
"Why would the lord kill himself?"
"It must have been really tough losing his wife like that," another tried to answer.
"Tough for him? Then what about the young master, he lost both his parents in one day, who is going to look after him now?"
"But isn't it practically his fault, can't you see he isn't even crying,"
The maid had slipped and allowed her voice to be too loud.
Sophia bit her lip angrily,
"Who said that!" She screamed at them causing them to scramble away. She chased after them, leaving Dremlin and Izikel alone.
"Don't listen to them young master, this wasn't your fault," he tried consoling him, but Izikel didn't even know what to feel about this.
He was reminded of when he lost his mother back on earth. It was a day that altered the rest of his life.
'maybe it is for the best I never got to know them' he told himself, but yet he was hoping to get another chance at being someone's child, another chance to atone for how he treated his father in his past life.
"Can I be alone?"
Dremlin bowed, "of course, I'll just get the body down,"
He nodded at the two guards and they all assisted in placing the Priests body on the floor before leaving.
Izikel stared at the man, it was his second time seeing a dead body up close. It looked different from when he was alive, bearing only a little resemblance to the man he had seen yesterday. His features were now sunken and the skin pale and lifeless.
The same hands that held him passionately, even if just for a moment, were now cold, robbed of all the vitality it had in life.
"So this is what he meant by he was going to see his wife again… I pray you end up in a more peaceful place,"
'I need to see if I can find any clue about Oroborn'
Izikel checked all the man's pockets but the only thing Isiel had on him was the ring on his finger, so with little hesitation Izikel took that.
As he looked at the lifeless body one last time he thought back to his father on earth,
"I wonder if he'll be happier now that I'm gone… most likely, after all I was nothing but a burden to him,"
He said that but deep down he hoped it wasn't true, because he actually did miss his father, after all he was the only family he had left.
After a while Dremlin returned, this time with two men dressed in black coats.
"I wondered when something like this would happen" One of them said, on his left eye he had a black eye patch with a golden six-pointed star drawn on it.
Dremlin clenched his first tightly, "don't say that in front of the young master,"
He shot a threatening glare at the man, who just continued smirking.
"Why are you acting like it's a secret, the Leotard family has always been cursed by fate, that's why their family heads always meet such an ending… I bet if we give the kid sometime he would eventually off himself too,"
'What sort of devil is this, how could anyone say such a thing to a child,' Izikel wondered, he couldn't tell if it was normal in this new world and he was the weird one, but it would have definitely been a harsh thing for an 11 year old to hear.
Dremlin on the other hand could no longer control himself, he raised his fist to attack the one eyed man.
"Don't!" The other man commanded, his voice sounding bold and intimidating. He had since been focused on the body lying on the floor.
He shot a cold glare at Dremlin, "are you trying to attack an Inquisitor acting on the crown's orders?"
Dremlin lowered his head, "I am sorry, but I just don't see the point in all this. The child just lost both his parents, isn't the humane thing to do to let him grieve in peace?"
The Inquisitor shook his head slightly, "sorry but our job is more important than that,"
He turned to Izikel, "I'm sorry child, but I have a duty to make sure there was no foul play,"
One eyed Darius placed his hand on the dead body, "Death by suicide is common when one tries to communicate with an unknown entity… how did you say the wife died?"
"I didn't say, but she was sick when she died three days ago," Dremlin replied.
'Didn't they say she died trying to heal me?' Izikel wondered.
One eyed Darius got to his feet, "that explains it, he was probably heart broken because I can't feel any residue energy off him,"
The other Inquisitor nodded with understanding.
"We were just about to leave town before we heard the news, don't worry I'll make sure there'll be no further investigation so you can grieve in peace,"
"I don't know what kind of curse has brought such a misfortune but I pray the gods protect you,"
With that he left, followed by the one eyed Inquisitor.
"Dremlin, why did you lie to the Inquisitors?" Izikel asked immediately as they left.
"Lie to an Inquisitor, that's impossible. Inquisitors receive a blessing from their God that makes people unable to tell them lies. They compel you to say the truth,"
"Compel as in magic?" Izikel wondered,
"It's not magic, more like a miracle," Dremlin explained.
'So there is some sort of magic here,' Izikel celebrated in his heart.
'I was starting to fear if it would be one of those stories where I'll have to invent things using knowledge from my world, that would have been the worst for someone like me. I don't even know the basics of generating electricity'
"So it's impossible to lie to them… but you just said my mother died of an illness,"
"No, I said she was sick when she died and your mother did have a light cough up until her final moments, it may not have been what killed her, it is still the truth".
"Words are very important in outsmarting miracles like this, the trick is identifying what your brain recognizes as the truth before it can come out of your mouth. In that split second you can alter your understanding of the question and create an acceptable answer,"
"in that split second? You didn't delay with your answer, it was like you knew the question before he even asked. That was amazing,"
Dremlin cleared his throat, "Well, it's easier to do when you expect it, I doubt it would have gone the same way if I didn't know they were Inquisitors,"
Izikel was truly amazed by this, how could he not, he witnessed how natural the answer came. To him it happened in even less than a split of a second. Dremlin was so quick to respond and he did it without any hesitation.
It was a perfect misdirection, a little bit too perfect because now Izikel knew this old man couldn't be trusted,
'there's no way he is just some old butler,'
Dremlin smiled shyly, playfully scratching his chin
"well I've had years to perfect it, it's not easy but I'm sure you can learn it in time,"